Howard Grant
|previous occupation= Busnessman of the Army of Light |team= Lords of the Apocalypse |previous team= |partner= |previous partner= |base of operations= Nightmare Wing Guild Hall |status= Inactive (Merged inside of Tao Kung) |relatives= |counterpart= Tao Kung (Currently Demonic Host) |magic= Palm Magic (掌魔法, Tenohira Mahō) |curse= |weapons= *'Pocket Knife' |manga debut= Fairy Tail Stories: Legend of The Lost Pages (Mentioned) |anime debut= |game debut= |japanese voice= Norio Wakamoto |english voice= Ray Park |image gallery= }} Howard Joseph Grant (ハワード かまつか ふよ, HAWĀDO kamatsuka Fuyo) was a human male 500 years before the events of the current fairy tail timeline. He was once born to nobility during the events of the 500-year war as well as regarded as one of the strongest warriors of that time period. During the events of the war, he later betrayed the Army of Light and sided with The Army of Darkness in order to gain "Ultimate Power". The Reigning master of the dreaded Satsujinken (殺人権, The Killing Fist) or "Way of the Demon God Fist" (悪魔の道, Akuma no michi) fighting style, a trait and knowledge that later factored into Kung's fighting style. He was later trapped within the Black Soul Gem and was forcibly merged with the soul of Tao Kung becoming one entity and one mind effectively destroying himself in the process for ultimate power. He is now known as the demon Tao Kung a being of greater power among the demons and regarded by some as one of the strongest demons in the world today. Appearence A man in his early 40s having short blond hair, a goatee, and a single cold black left eye. He also has a fondness for being shown wearing red formal clothes and with his hair covering his right eye covered having lost it in a previous confrontation with a demon. He often wears leather gloves so he doesn't break his knuckles on the faces of unfortunate victims of his bloodlust for combat both inside and outside of conflicts. Inside his jacket, he also has a hidden pouch which holds his pocket knife to surprise targets when losing a battle. Personlity Born during the 500-year war, he appears at first as a kind hearted gentleman to the eyes of the public and those around him. In secret, he was a very corrupt, cruel and powerful man who will kill anyone who stands in his way. He sees absolutely no value in human life and sold his humanity to gain ultimate power to be the strongest fighter in the entire Earth-Land. In the end, his motivations are what gives his demonic counterpart his bloodlust nature effective today for his strive to be the very strongest in the world at all costs. This was drive was forcibly touched by the fact he promised to his bride to be, he would become stronger so something like this never happens again. This drive later drove him to get stronger to the point of pure insanity going as far to go across the lands to train under the very best warriors and learning the from a teacher in the art of the Satsujinken (殺人権, The Killing Fist), an art of martial arts made purely to fight, disable and kill targets from anywhere to single combat to wide scale. History Born to a noble family at one point he was a savvy, determined, polite and perhaps a little too facetious. But what'd you expect from somebody with his position? He was born in an upper-class family in a developed capital of Mana. He lived free of worries until he was about 20 years old, but at that point, things began to change. He was once a noble to a great family to marry a beautiful woman until a group of cultists kidnapped the bride-to-be and killed her. Instead of calling the Rune Guards, he instead took it upon himself to track down them and brutally beat them to death. After that, he had his first taste of murdering and enjoyed the feelings of it yet at the same time felt sad about his former bride. As a result, later on, he began training and using his power to keep out the large full-scale war between humans and demons since a man of his caliber had no need for such distractions. Using his power and influence he manages to begin to be the head of the trade within the capital city using his knowledge to be able to drive the funds of the army of light to victory after victory. However the taste of power wasn't enough after hearing of pirates stealing his equipment to sell it, he instead began to dive deeper and deeper into his insanity killing them with his bare fists as well as beginning a private army of his own to protect his equipment. He then began to enjoy combat more as he goes around Mana joining multiple strongman contests for non-magic users to fight as well, that the same token he also fought magic users over the years trying to hone his skill until he could find no equal, this changed after an altercation with the Emperor Masahiro during a brief argument. Through defeated the two began to become great friends with each other however the loss in his mind burned into his mind for years to come up to near the climax of the 500-year war. During this time, however, he seeks out strong enemies and was looking to become the greatest warrior in all of Earth-land and Mana. That was until he stumbled upon a Dojo with monks trained in the art of the "Way of the Dragon King" martial art. he was exchanged for ultimate power and martial arts training by a Blond Figure later to be known as Katsuyoshi Hojo. Upon completing his training, he then returned to the dojo after killing the Grandmaster in singles combat then murdered everyone else and set the temple ablaze. His hunger for battle driven to the point, he willingly sold out his entire empire and his once friend the Emperor to fall into an ambush for the promise of battle. During the final conflict at the height of the climax of the battle, he has defeated again and then was seeped up into the Black Soul Gem when it was used to suck all the demons in during the event he was trapped inside the stone itself. After being mauled by a group of demons after killing a large group inside the stone itself, he was then taken by Tao Kung as he was forcibly merged with the demon as they become one entity through a mind-melding of both of them since they both wanted to become the ultimate fighter. Howard agreed to his request and had given up his mind and very soul to become one with the demon in order to defeat all those in his way. Abilities Magical Ablities Palm Magic (掌魔法, Tenohira Mahō) is a Caster Type Magic. A form of Magic that allows its user to focus his Magic Power in the palm of his hands. This significantly boosts the strength of the attacks he performs with the hands, allowing him to strike targets with great force through simple palm strikes and chops. This type of magic was the backbone that leads to the production of his fighting style and was greatly enhanced with the motions of the Satsujinken's deadly strikes. Natural Abilities *'Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant' Even before the original user of the "Satsujinken" style of combat is a very skilled brawler. Known for being a skilled Slugger during his time, he is mostly remembered for ending the fights in the first few hits. After his training following his defeat, he has taken what he has known from slugger background and focused it into his hands by targeting limbs and body parts with a reinforcement of Palm Magic to build his fighting style. *'Immense Strength' Even before discovering the power of Magic power, Howard was already at the peak of human capabilities after the defeat of his wife. He trained like a man possessed to become stronger at all cost and it showed through his natural strength. He was able to punch through a stone wall with a single punch and great a man's skull with his foot. *'Immense Speed' He carries remarkable speed for a normal human. With the boost of magic, he is able to run up to 20 miles before feeling winded. He is able to keep pace with faster demons through his reflects and natural timing. *'Durability and Pain Tolerance' His strongest trait is his overwhelming pain tolerance, he is able to take serious punishment and his sheer willpower alone forces his body to keep going and keep fighting even when his body refuses to respond. He able to take a blow from Kronus The World Eater's tail and survived being smacked into a building from the sheer force of the giant tail. Satsujinken Arts *'Akuma no Nigiri' (悪魔の握り, Demon King's Grasp) It is a powerful and lethal attack which, the user can hold his hand flat to then plunging his hand in a thrusting motion to impale through an enemy target. This can be followed up by removing a major organ or simply tearing a large hole through a target. *'Harikēnkikku' (ハリケーンキック, Hurricane Kick) By using the wind currents to push his body, he is able to spin his body like a rotating top. This is able to generate the force of the boosted speed to form a hurricane around his body as he continually strikes at a target with multiple strikes with the same foot. *'Moeru washi no Ken' (燃えるワシの拳, Burning Eagle Fist) A more advanced technique it is a powerful, twin fisted punch used which has the destructive force of two cannon balls striking into a normal body. When impact into the body it normally facing a normal human it can totally destroy an opponent in one blow. However, those with greater durability will suffer a tremendous amount of pain from it. 4b7dcd66ee2f4fc7c531f8282707b4761ab38a67_hq.gif|Yamanokami no Suiryoku used as a Non-Lethal fighting style 4433907-9699846653-ywdrz.gif|When used as a Range-based Attack Souten.jpg|When used as a Killing Move Extreme_Decapitating_Airwaves.png|Akuma no-ō no Fantomu shockwave at Full Power *'Yamanokami no Suiryoku' (山の神の推力, Mountain God Thrust) An open palm strike to the face or gut. Upon impact can effortlessly generate a gust of the wind along the palm to thrust the target into the ground strong enough to bury them in the ground or send them flying away. It was inspired by Palm Magic as well as an effective control tool during combat since when used for killing it can be used to drive a victim's skull into a surface to completely shatter their skull.Some users that are purist to this form of thrusting strikes embrace the attack as striking fights or simply use this as a way of trying to disable targets instead of killing them by using power palm thrusts in the gut. Another way it can be used was focusing the raw natural energy of the user's body to be focused in a powerful burst of solid Magical/Cursed Energy sent as a projectile bubble of energy released to either disable or crush an enemy with sheer force. *'Akuma no-ō no Fantomu' (悪魔の王 幻影, Demon King's Phantom) An advanced technique and a more specialized version of the Yamanokami no Suiryoku as it requires the users of both hands. This is a double thrust motion which amplified the effects of the original technique by using both hands as the extra conduit to focus the power. The force of its destructive ability can devastate a large group of enemies at once in front of the user. Though it has a drawback of using a lot more energy from the user than normally leaving most users being forced to gasping for air from the amount of force required to blast it at once. As a result of this drawback, unless trained to overcome this weakness, it is normally used as a last resort attack. Trivia *Howard Grant's looks are based on Rugal Bernstein from The King of Fighters series being the perfect fit of looks for a pre-demon Tao Kung as a 500-years man being as evil and corrupt as Rugal is in that series. Category:Knightwalker591 Category:Nightmare Wing Category:Male Category:Blonde Hair Category:Palm Magic User Category:Knife User Category:Evil Category:Dark Mage Category:Satsujinken User